Joe Wolf, who rose to stardom as a North Carolina basketball captain under legendary coach Dean Smith, died earlier this week. 

The Milwaukee Bucks announced Wolf’s passing.

“Throughout his life, Joe touched many lives and was a highly respected, adored and dedicated coach and player across the NBA,” the Bucks said in a statement on Thursday. Wolf was 59.

After he left North Carolina, Wolf went on to play for several NBA teams over the span of 11 years. He then moved into coaching, working as an assistant for the Bucks’ G League affiliate — the Wisconsin Herd.

“Off the court, Joe was a beloved brother, uncle, friend and community leader,” the statement from the Bucks continued. “We send our deepest condolences to Joe’s family and friends. The Bucks and Herd will always be grateful to Joe for his hard work and commitment to our organization. He will be missed.”

Wolf was a high school All-American in 1983 before joining the Tar Heels to play alongside the likes of Michael Jordan and Sam Perkins. Wolf was a co-captain for the Tar Heels as a senior in 1986-87, sharing that role with Kenny Smith.

North Carolina went 115-22 in Wolf’s four seasons, making the Sweet 16 twice and the Elite Eight twice in that span. Wolf credited Smith for instilling important skills in him from the beginning of his college experience.

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“I like to think I started getting trained the minute I stepped on campus,” Wolf told the Greensboro News and Record in 2018. “Coach Smith was all about building the proper habits. That benefits me today.”

North Carolina’s Joe Wolf (24) is stopped by Villanova players Gary McLain (22) and Harold Jensen (32) during early action at NCAA Southeast Regional finals at Birmingham, Ala., March 24, 1985.  (AP Photo/File)

He was an All-ACC pick in 1987 and finished his career at North Carolina with 1,231 points. The Los Angeles Clippers used the No. 13 pick in the 1987 draft on Wolf. He spent three seasons with the organization before joining the Denver Nuggets in 1991, and later playing for five more franchises.

Wolf led Kohler High School to three Wisconsin state championships, and in 2005 the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel named him the state’s greatest high school basketball player ever, the Bucks said.

He coached at the college level as an assistant at William & Mary and UNC Wilmington, was a head coach in what is now called the G League with Idaho, Colorado and Greensboro, had been an NBA assistant for Milwaukee and Brooklyn and was hired in 2023 as a G League assistant for the Herd.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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The California Horse Racing Board met last week in Sacramento to decide the immediate future of horse racing in the northern part of the state. There was tension, confrontation and a sense of desperation from all the proponents in the room looking for a lifeline to run a short three-month meeting in Pleasanton to show that they can do it.

The meeting had everything but power. No, not the kind of power that politicians wield with impunity. Actual honest-to-goodness electrical power, the stuff of Edison and Tesla that drives microphones, lighting and the internet.

It might have been the first time this sort of thing has happened in more than 20 years but the difficulties were emblematic of the current state of California horse racing, a sport that is closer to circling the drain than stopping the bleeding.

So, how does California’s largest race track deal with the current state of the business? Why throw a party, of course.

On Saturday, Santa Anita is hosting the California Crown, a first-year event that is supposed to entice people to experience horse racing by offering healthy sides of musical entertainment, an elevated food experience and the belief the sport can provide more than hoof beats and tote boards.

Some see this as a new version of the apocryphal story of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Others see it as the Stronach Group, owner of Santa Anita, believing so much in the sport that this type of event will energize the populace and bring much-needed new fans to the sport.

“I know they want this to be a day that mirrors the Pegasus at Gulfstream Park in Florida,” said Bill Nader, president and chief executive of the Thoroughbred Owners of California. “So, we’ll see how it goes. It’s a very competitive landscape in Southern California this time of year with USC and UCLA football both being at home, and possibly before sellout crowds. [TSG] is putting its money up and taking its best shot.

“Regardless, if someone says it’s the right use of money, it’s their company, it’s their race track, it’s their call. But we’ll get behind it.”

The day starts at 12:30 p.m. with the first of 10 races. The big races start about 3:30 p.m. with the $750,000 John Henry Turf Championship going 1 ¼ miles, followed by the $750,000 Eddie D Stakes for horses going about 6 ½ furlongs on the downhill turf course.

The big event was supposed to be the $1-million California Crown at 4:30 p.m., with a less than hoped for group of six horses going 1 1/8 miles on the dirt. The race was formerly known as the Awesome Again Stakes, when it paid only $300,000.

The California Crown race is part of a bonus program with a $5-million bonus to any horse that won the Preakness Stakes, California Crown and Pegasus. However, that became meaningless when Preakness winner Seize the Grey elected to skip the California Crown and instead run in the Pennsylvania Derby last week, which he won. There are also bonuses tied to the turf races.

The music will start after the first race is over with Siobhan followed by Amika (1:11 p.m.), the McLarens (1:45 p.m.), Elan Bia (3:42 p.m.), Shaboozey (4:13 p.m.), Zack Bia (5:21 p.m.), Lil Yachty and Zack Bia (5:30 p.m.), Frank Walker (5:51 p.m.) and Gryffin (6:40 p.m.)

Shaboozey is probably the hottest name right now based on a few hits on the country music charts. His set, like most, will last about 20 minutes. The stage is trackside, in the Delila VIP area, just past the finish line. General admission, which was free Friday, is $27.30 on Saturday. General parking is free.

The Delilah trackside box seats, the highest ticket prices, cost $1,372.50 a seat.

“Some concerts work, some concerts don’t work,” said Robert Hartman, who worked in marketing at Santa Anita before becoming general manager at Golden Gate Fields. He is currently the director of the Race Track Industry Program at the University of Arizona.

“We had two types of musical groups,” Hartman said. “One was groups that were just getting started. They were hot but only had maybe one hit. The hope was by the time you booked them they had two, three, four, five hits.

“Or they were the opposite, they had a brand name but their brand has faded. One that comes to mind is Frankie Valli. He had the brand and people still wanted to see him because he was Frankie Valli. The Beach Boys would be another example.”

Hartman remembers when No Doubt, fronted by Gwen Stefani, played at Santa Anita. “We probably had 25,000 to see No Doubt,” Hartman said. “They got more and more popular between the time we booked them and the time they performed. We almost had to shut the admissions gates. And they were relatively inexpensive.”

The real goal of these types of promotions is to collect data about those who are new to racing so they can be the target of direct marketing.

While Hartman believes it’s best to intersperse the music between races, it’s not the only way to do things.

“Del Mar’s now discontinued concerts were apparently very successful, especially their innovation of having the concerts after the races,” said Alan Balch a longtime Santa Anita marketing and public relations executive who is the executive director of the California Thoroughbred Trainers.

“It enabled concertgoers to come to the races earlier, at the regular low track admission price, but then have to pay a much higher admission to come to the concert alone. To any regular racing fan attending those days, it was a win-win — large numbers of new fans being introduced to the races, with the attendant buzz in the crowd. The after-race concerts did not disturb any racing activities. This is the very definition of successful market development, provided the concert cost-benefit analysis indicated break-even or better.”

Aidan Butler is the chief executive over TSG’s ever-shrinking racing empire. The company closed Golden Gate Fields this year and gave Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore to the state so it didn’t have to pay for a massive rebuild of the ancient facility.

“The criticism of California is that no one markets anymore and we take that as a fair criticism,” Butler said. “How do you get visibility for a racetrack that is in a very highly populated area that is Hollywood? I’m just trying to get visibility to a newer audience. And you can’t do that with just horse racing.”

California racing has been in decline for several years. The state has some of the lowest purses compared with the racing circuits in Kentucky and New York. The difference is those states get supplemental income from casino gambling, something California does not. Kentucky purses have reached ridiculously high levels since the introduction of Historical Horse Racing, marketed as a game of skill using old horse races as content but is really little more than a slot machine.

Purses are paid through a percentage of money bet on the races and managed by the TOC. If there is not enough revenue by virtue of reduced mutuel handle, the TOC enters what’s counterintuitively known as an overpayment. The shortfall is paid by the track with the fantastical notion that it will one day be paid back.

During the six-month winter-spring meeting at Santa Anita, there was a shortfall of $5 million, which Santa Anita is carrying. At Del Mar, the track picked up $1 million in purses.

TSG is picking up the tab for Saturday’s racing, which amounts to about $3.1 million.

“Some ask why don’t they take that money and put it into overnight [daily] purses or to pay down the overpayment, but in the end, it’s their money, their race track and if they elect to go for the big bang marketing effort then who are we to object,” Nader said.

“We have to respect their strategic investment if they believe that this is a better approach and it’s going to help. Either effort would benefit horse owners but … we have to respect their position. I could make an argument for either side. If they were to come and offer that money for overnights, I’d be in favor of that too.”

Hartman points out that even if Saturday is a huge success, you need a strategy beyond that one day.

“On the negative side, we would get people on a big day like that and they had a good time and they come back on a Thursday and the experience wasn’t quite as energetic,” Hartman said. “It was always my concern when their second visit didn’t live up to the excitement of the first visit with live music. Would that then turn them off?”

Balch says all tracks need to look beyond the next big weekend.

“Any marketing, advertising, sales promotion efforts must be part of a plan which enables measuring effectiveness,” Balch said. “All ‘proper’ marketing is for profit, either short or long-term, and must be subject to analysis of cost vs. benefit.”

If Saturday’s card is a success as an experience — it’s highly unlikely it will be a financial success — Butler understands the tightrope that must be walked between regular and new race-goers.

“We really do give a lot of thought into customers that are here day in and day out,” Butler said. “The elevation of the experience is to attract new customers. But we still want to show the love to customers who come day in and day out. And you’ve got the ADW [advance deposit wagering] crowd and the people who bet from home. I’m hoping from a betting standpoint there will be a great card to wager on.”

It will take time to assess if this grand experiment will make a difference or if one day Shaboozey will be the answer to a trivia question as to who played a significant role in saving California racing.

Three down, how many more to go?

Over the past seven weeks, the Chicago White Sox, Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds have all fired their managers. If history is any indication, the turnover is only beginning.

A fourth job will open when Skip Schumaker exercises his “get out of jail free” card with the Miami Marlins. Other changes are almost certain, whether due to retirements, postseason flameouts or internal conflicts.

Sometimes, these things come out of nowhere. The Chicago Cubs’ hiring of Craig Counsell to replace David Ross at the end of last season was one such move. The St. Louis Cardinals’ firing of Mike Shildt after a 17-game winning streak propelled the team to a wild-card berth in 2021 was another.

Other times, the moves are more predictable. The White Sox’s dismissal of Pedro Grifol in early August was all but inevitable. Even the Reds’ dumping of David Bell earlier this week did not exactly qualify as a surprise.

Stuff will happen. Stuff always happens. Here’s a look at 10 managers under scrutiny:

It’s difficult to imagine the Dodgers blaming Roberts for the organization’s inability to keep pitchers healthy, especially when upper management passed on chances to scapegoat him for their Division Series losses in 2019, ‘22 and ‘23.

Since becoming manager in 2015, Roberts has led the Dodgers to eight NL West titles in nine years and a 106-win season the year they finished second. The team entering Wednesday had won 51 more regular-season games than its nearest competitor, as well as the 2020 World Series.

Blowing a four-game lead to the Padres with eight to play would have placed Roberts in jeopardy, but the Dodgers can clinch the NL West with a win on Thursday. A third straight upset defeat in the DS, however, is still possible. And such an outcome might compel president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman to make a change.

Roberts, 52, is under contract through next season, which raises another question: If the Dodgers keep him, would they sign him to another extension or allow him to start 2025 as a lame duck? Based on his accomplishments, Roberts could rightly ask for more than the $8 million average annual salary the Cubs gave Counsell.

Boone’s fate, like Roberts’, might hinge on what happens in the postseason. The noise in New York certainly will grow louder if the Yankees make a quick exit in the DS or even if they advance to the American League Championship Series and perform the way they did in 2022, when they were swept by the Houston Astros.

The Yankees have made the playoffs in all but one of Boone’s seven seasons, and are tied with the Atlanta Braves for the third-most victories in the majors during that time. The current team, though, can be hard to watch. The Yankees are the worst base running team in the majors, according to FanGraphs. Their lapses on the bases and in the field are at some level a reflection on their manager.

Still, the Yankees’ overall collection of talent might be their best since 2009, when they last won the World Series. Boone, 51, will need to be quick-witted in the postseason, deploying pinch hitters and pinch runners, and managing a bullpen without a true closer (though Luke Weaver certainly has looked the part). The Yankees hold an option on Boone for 2025.

Brian Snitker, Atlanta Braves

The Braves are not about to force out Snitker after he kept the team in contention during a season marred by one injury after another. The better question might be whether Snitker — at age 68, after nine seasons as manager and nearly 50 years in the Atlanta organization — still wants to manage.

Under contract through 2025, Snitker might be reluctant to go out on a sour note. He also might be reluctant, after decades of minor-league pay, to sacrifice a salary believed to be in the $1.5 million to $2 million range. But the job is so taxing, health is a concern for every manager. And Snitker talks occasionally about the difficulty of enduring the strain at his age.

An easy solution, if Snitker wants to move on, would be for the Braves to make him a high-paid advisor and keep him part of the organization. If anyone deserves a golden parachute, after six straight division titles and a World Series triumph in 2021, it’s “Snit.”

Baldelli is not solely responsible for the team’s collapse. The Twins seem unlikely to hold him responsible. But the team’s cohesion has eroded since it was swept in Kansas City in early September, amid a 12-23 freefall. And Baldelli, if he survives, might need to adjust his loose, laid-back style, which seemingly has backfired with his young team.

Injuries are part of the problem for a club that has used three rookie starters down the stretch and played without three top position players — Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis — for chunks of the season. But Correa, in comments after Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the Marlins at Target Field, indicated certain players were not showing enough urgency, saying of the Twins’ predicament, “Some guys take it as poison and some guys take it as fuel.”

Baldelli, 43, has appeared more frustrated in the past six weeks than at any point during his six years as manager. His team’s lack of edge, though, would appear partly his own doing. Without the presence of an everyday force such as the Cleveland Guardians’ José Ramírez or the Kansas City Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr., the Twins might need a greater push from its manager in 2025.

Skip Schumaker, Miami Marlins

This one is a fait accompli. After the season ends on Sunday, Schumaker will take advantage of the freedom he gained last offseason when the Marlins agreed to void his 2025 option. At that point, the team will be left to replace a manager who, as a free agent, is expected to be coveted by multiple clubs.

Assistant general manager Gabe Kapler, who managed the Philadelphia Phillies in 2018 and ‘19 and the San Francisco Giants from 2020 to ‘23, would figure to be one candidate. But another possibility is that Kapler will remain in the front office and play a significant role in choosing Schumaker’s successor.

Among the potential candidates: Cleveland Guardians bench coach Craig Albernaz, who was a member of Kapler’s staff in San Francisco; Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough, whom Kapler hired as Los Angeles’ minor-league field coordinator during his tenure as farm director; and Royals bench coach Paul Hoover, who was a coach with the Tampa Bay Rays from 2019 to ‘22 while Marlins president of baseball operations Peter Bendix was in the Rays’ front office.

Pirates general manager Ben Cherington seemed to settle the issue on Sept. 11, saying he fully expects Shelton to return, calling him the “right person to manage this team in 2025.” The only question, particularly in the wake of Bell’s dismissal, is whether owner Bob Nutting is content with the status quo.

Before the season began, Nutting said he expected the team to take a “meaningful step forward,” telling The Athletic, “We collectively believe we can compete for a division and a postseason berth.” A 7-20 collapse starting July 31 ensured neither would occur.

The Pirates are headed for their sixth straight losing season. They need two wins to match last year’s total, and it will hardly be a sign of progress if they somehow surpass that number, considering this is the year they added Paul Skenes.

Cherington is completing his fifth season. Shelton, 54, appears safe unless Nutting decides to completely overhaul the operation.

Last winter, coming off 89 wins in Schneider’s first full season, the Jays chased Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto. They ended up with Justin Turner, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Kevin Kiermaier, all of whom they traded, and a club that will finish with the fourth- or fifth-worst record in the American League.

General manager Ross Atkins is not above pointing the finger at Schneider, as he did after the controversial removal of José Berríos in Game 2 of the 2023 Wild Card series. But the Jays keep indicating that they view their crash-and-burn as an aberration, and that they intend to roll out Vlad, Bo and Co. once more in 2025.

If Atkins fires Schneider, 44, it will only increase the attention on his own shortcomings. The Jays entered Wednesday with only 12 homers — 12! — from the cleanup spot. That’s not on the manager.

Grady Sizemore, Chicago White Sox

Let’s follow the Sizemore timeline.

Last season, he was a $15-an-hour intern with the Arizona Diamondbacks. This season, the White Sox gave him his first major-league coaching job. On Aug. 8, general manager Chris Getz named him interim manager in place of Pedro Grifol, saying the team would focus on candidates outside their organization for the permanent position. And on Tuesday, Getz reversed himself, saying Sizemore, 42, would be considered for the job.

Now that’s an ascent!

The White Sox still seem likely to make an outside hire, assuming someone wants to take over their record-tying (as of now) 120-loss juggernaut (there are only 30 of these jobs; someone will). Best of luck to that poor soul.

Bud Black is wrapping up his eighth season in Denver as the Rockies manager. (Ron Chenoy / USA Today Sports)

Black, 67, has presided over six straight losing seasons, and the Rockies need to finish 3-1 to avoid their second straight 100-loss campaign. A rebuilding club might benefit from a fresh voice, but virtually everyone likes Black and Rockies owner Dick Monfort operates in an insular bubble, preferring stability over change.

A decision on Black is forthcoming; he is unsigned beyond this season. He had preliminary talks with Monfort about a contract extension during spring training, according to the Denver Post. But no deal was reached, and general manager Bill Schmidt has postponed any talk about Black’s future until the end of the season.

Marmol, 38, appears safe in part because president of baseball operations John Mozeliak plans to return for one more season. Mozeliak is not going to hire a new manager one year before owner Bill DeWitt Jr. installs a new front office. The next head of baseball operations should get to make that choice.

The Cardinals narrowly will avoid losing records in back-to-back full seasons for the first time since 1958-59. Their issues, however, run far deeper than Marmol, who led the team to 93 wins in 2022, his first season. His contract runs through 2026. He will get at least one more shot.

(Top photo of Aaron Boone: Brandon Sloter/Image Of Sport/Getty Images)