U.S./World Sports category, Page 206
Expansion, eventual departures of Oklahoma, Texas on minds of Big 12 basketball coachesVideo
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Beard got right to it. His Texas Longhorns will have a target on their backs. “We’ve already begun talking to our players about how difficult it’s going to be,” he said. “But it’s really no different than anywhere else I’ve ever coached. If you’re going...
To jab or not to jab? Vaccinations still hot topic in sportsVideo
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman let out a faint cough and assured those seated at least 6 feet away that it was allergies, not covid-19. He had tested negative for the coronavirus three times in the previous week. It allowed the fully vaccinated 69-year-old the opportunity to underscore the message that...
Mel Tucker, Michigan State among biggest surprises in Big Ten
Mel Tucker took over a downtrodden Michigan State program before a pandemic-shortened 2020 season. For a variety of reasons, it was one to forget in East Lansing. After a 2-5 finish in his inaugural campaign, Tucker refurbished the program with returning players and a variety of important plug-ins from the...
Report: WSU football coach Nick Rolovich fired after refusing covid-19 vaccine
Nick Rolovich came to Washington State as a fun-loving coach, known nationally for his off-the-wall antics and an ability to win. Less than two years and 11 games later, Rolovich is apparently gone, and will be known nationally as the football coach who lost his job for refusing to get...
SEC fines Vols $250,000 for fan behavior during Ole Miss gameVideo
KNOXVILLE — The Southeastern Conference has fined Tennessee $250,000 for fans stopping the Volunteers’ game with Mississippi for about 20 minutes throwing water bottles, beer cans, pizza boxes, hot dogs, a plastic mustard bottle and at least one golf ball onto the field late in the game. The league office...
Gonzaga is No. 1 in preseason AP Top 25; UCLA, Kansas nextVideo
Gonzaga carried a No. 1 ranking all last season before falling a win short of becoming college basketball’s first unbeaten national champion in 45 years. Mark Few’s Bulldogs start this season in the same position, hoping to complete that final step this time around. The Zags were the runaway top...
New technology offers anonymous way to report abuse, doping in sports
A college basketball player hatched the idea after seeing a discrimination case nearly implode his own team, then wondering why nobody had done anything about it sooner. Ten years later, that player has developed the idea into a key tool for fixing a sports landscape teeming with cases of sexual...
From ‘bottom of totem pole,’ NBA begins its climb in 1950s
A career in the NBA seemed such an uncertainty as the 1950s arrived that Bob Cousy considered driving school a better option than playing for a team he didn’t even know how to find on a map. “Basketball was at the bottom of the totem pole,” said Cousy, one of...
Cincinnati up to No. 2 in AP top 25; Purdue snaps poll droughtVideo
Cincinnati moved up to No. 2 behind Georgia in the Associated Press college football poll Sunday, the first time a team from outside the traditional power conferences has been ranked that high since 2010. The Bulldogs remained a unanimous No. 1 with 63 first-place votes in the AP Top 25...
LSU, football coach Ed Orgeron to part ways at end of seasonVideo
LSU and coach Ed Orgeron agreed to part ways after this season, 21 months after he led the Tigers to a national championship with what is considered one of the greatest teams in college football history. “We have very high standards for all of our sports programs at LSU, and...
Kyle Larson wins at Texas for 1st spot in NASCAR’s final 4
FORT WORTH, Texas — Kyle Larson claimed the first of four championship-contending spots in NASCAR’s season finale with a dominating victory Sunday at Texas to start the round of eight in the playoffs. Larson led 256 of 334 laps at the 11⁄2-mile track and got his eighth win this season....
Chicago takes first WNBA title with win over PhoenixVideo
CHICAGO — Candace Parker returned home to bring Chicago a championship. She did just that leading the Sky to the franchise’s first title. Allie Quigley scored 26 points and Parker added 16 points, 13 rebounds and five assists and Chicago beat the Phoenix Mercury 80-74 on Sunday in Game 4....
Amid sports program cuts nationwide, local colleges played on during pandemic despite millions of dollars in losses
As college football stadiums, basketball arenas and hockey facilities sat idle during the coronavirus pandemic, Western Pennsylvania universities did not waver. They continued to field their teams. From Pitt and Penn State to Slippery Rock and Duquesne, local colleges bucked a nationwide trend of cutting athletic programs to offset crippling...
‘Long time coming:’ Rickie Fowler takes lead into final round at VegasVideo
LAS VEGAS — Rickie Fowler couldn’t remember the last time he saw his name at the top of the leaderboard on the weekend of the PGA Tour. He didn’t forget what he was supposed to do from there. Winless in 32 months, Fowler returned to the spotlight Saturday in the...
Final four spots in NASCAR Xfinity Series open after John Hunter Nemechek’s win in TexasVideo
FORT WORTH, Texas — All four spots in the championship round of the NASCAR Xfinity Series still are up for grabs after nonplayoff qualifier John Hunter Nemechek overcame a late penalty Saturday to win at Texas Motor Speedway. Nemechek won the first of three races in the round of eight,...
Purdue snaps 12-game win streak for No. 2 IowaVideo
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Aidan O’Connell threw for 375 yards and accounted for three touchdowns, David Bell had a career-best 240 yards receiving and Purdue continued its recent mastery over No. 2 Iowa with a 24-7 upset Saturday. The Boilermakers (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) have won four of their last...
Martin Truex in tight NASCAR chase for start of round of 8 in Texas
FORT WORTH, Texas — Martin Truex Jr. remembers the hours of boredom watching television and the rain in Texas, then coming so close to another championship chance when that playoff race last fall finally ended three days after it began. The forecast is much better this time, both weather-wise and...
This date in sports history: Oct. 16Video
1897 — Michigan beats Ohio State, 34-0, at Ann Arbor, the first meeting between theses storied rivals. 1932 — After a 0-0 tie earlier in the season, the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, 2-0. 1946 — Detroit’s Gordie Howe scores a goal and gets into two fights in...
Chase Elliott eases into Texas after NASCAR-ordered cease-fire
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It only took about a day after Chase Elliott wished Kevin Harvick “a merry offseason and Happy Christmas” for NASCAR’s reigning champion to get the zinger on merchandise on his official website. The holiday-themed gear even has its own tab in the online store. It’s the kind...
Right on Cue: NBA finds fast, high-tech option for virus testingVideo
If so inclined, an NBA player now could test himself for the coronavirus and get results on his phone in no more than 20 minutes. And the league is convinced those tests are fast enough and accurate enough. It’s a high-tech answer to the issue of waiting for test results....
Rotation not just MLB: U.S. uses 33 in 6 World Cup qualifiersVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Getting through the first six games of World Cup qualifying has taken a village for the United States. Rotation isn’t just a focus of baseball teams this fall. It’s a key for U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter. Twenty-nine players have started, five more than the American total during...
Pelicans’ Zion Williamson out at first week of regular season
NEW ORLEANS — Pelicans forward Zion Williamson is now expected to miss at least the first week of the regular season because his recovery from surgery to repair a right foot fracture is taking longer than anticipated. “Nothing has gone wrong and there is no setback,” Pelicans basketball operations chief...
This date in sports history: Oct. 14Video
1945 — The Chicago Cardinals snap the longest losing streak in NFL history at 29 games with a 16-7 victory over the Chicago Bears. 1951 — Detroit’s Jack Christiansen returns two punts for touchdowns, but the Lions still lose 27-21 to the Los Angeles Rams. 1962 — Houston’s George Blanda...
Tim Weah, Sergino Dest spark U.S. to win over Costa Rica in World Cup qualifierVideo
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Tim Weah scored on a shot that deflected off the goalkeeper in the 66th minute after Sergiño Dest started the comeback from a first-minute deficit, and the United States rallied past Costa Rica 2-1 on Wednesday night to ease pressure as World Cup qualifying neared the halfway...
Kenyan distance runner Agnes Tirop found dead at her home
Kenyan runner Agnes Tirop, a two-time world championships bronze medalist, has been found dead at her home, the country’s track federation said Wednesday. Athletics Kenya said it was still working to uncover details of the incident but it had been informed of Tirop’s death. She was 25. The track federation...
