U.S./World Sports category, Page 303
Pocono twin bill weekend loses luster with no fans at trackVideo
LONG POND — The billboard at the entrance to Pocono Raceway has photos of Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch and “First-Ever NASCAR Doubleheader” in bold letters. The kicker comes at the bottom of the sign: “Kids Free.” A grand gesture — and a needless one. Keep the kids at home....
NBA, players sign off on final terms for restarted seasonVideo
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association finalized terms of the deal that will allow the league to restart the season at the Disney World campus near Orlando, Fla., next month. The league and the union made the announcement Friday. Many of the details were already known, such as...
Goran Ivanisevic, the coach of Novak Djokovic, tests positive for coronavirus
ZAGREB, Croatia — Former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic, who now coaches Novak Djokovic and attended the top-ranked player’s exhibition series in Serbia and Croatia, said Friday he has tested positive for the coronavirus. The Croatian great, who won his only Grand Slam title at the All England Club in 2001,...
Ex-boxing champ Roberto Duran tests positive for coronavirus
PANAMA CITY — Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán, who held world championships in four weight classes during his more than three-decade career, has tested positive for the coronavirus but has had only mild symptoms so far, one of his sons said Thursday. Robin Durán said his 69-year-old father was tested after...
Liverpool clinches Premier League title, ends 30-year droughtVideo
LIVERPOOL, England — The 30-year wait is over. Liverpool is champion of England again. Liverpool clinched its first Premier League title since 1990 on Thursday, ending an agonizing title drought without the players even having to take the field. Instead, the league crown was secured when Chelsea beat second-place Manchester...
NASCAR hopes new fans join the sport in push for equalityVideo
This is NASCAR in 2020: An opening weekend that had a visit from the president and a death-defying crash. A pandemic-forced hiatus that drove the virtual racing popularity boom. Empty grandstands. And suddenly, perhaps surprisingly, a prominent role in the push for racial equality. All with the second half of...
Phil Mickelson added to field in U.S. Open without qualifyingVideo
The USGA is leaning a little more on the world ranking and a lot more on tournament results over the next two months to fill the 144-man field for a U.S. Open that will be without open qualifying for the first time in nearly a century. The exemption categories announced...
Mackenzie Hughes shoots 60 for 3-shot lead at Travelers ChampionshipVideo
CROMWELL, Conn. — Mackenzie Hughes shot a career-low 60 on Thursday to take the first-round at the Travelers Championship as the PGA Tour tried to switch its focus back to golf amid growing concerns about the coronavirus. Hughes, a 29-year-old Canadian, had a chance to shoot the 12th sub-60 round...
Vince Carter, 43, retires after record 22 NBA seasonsVideo
Vince Carter made his retirement official Thursday, announcing on his podcast his 22-year NBA career has ended. The announcement was largely a formality because the 43-year-old Carter had said many times over the course of this season this would be his last in the NBA. His 22 seasons are the...
NASCAR releases photo of Talladega noose
Declaring “the noose was real,” NASCAR officials on Thursday released a photo of the rope found in the garage stall of Black driver Bubba Wallace that prompted a federal investigation that determined it had been there since last October. The incident has put racism front and center for the stock...
Five players withdraw from PGA Tour event after caddie tests positive for virusVideo
Brooks Koepka and Webb Simpson were among five players who withdrew from the Travelers Championship, four of them out of a chain-reaction abundance of caution over the coronavirus that put the PGA Tour on notice. “The snowball is getting a little bit bigger,” Graeme McDowell told the Associated Press after...
New York City Marathon canceled because of coronavirus
NEW YORK — The New York City Marathon scheduled for Nov. 1 was canceled Wednesday because of the coronavirus pandemic. New York Road Runners announced the cancellation of the world’s largest marathon after coordinating with the mayor’s office and deciding the race posed too many health and safety concerns for...
Mark Madden: NASCAR noose saga adds fuel to divisive fire
Fake noose? No, not exactly. But the garage-door pull at Talladega Superspeedway which approximated a noose and caused NASCAR to go off the deep end (however righteously) has given ample ammunition to those who want to discredit Bubba Wallace as a new-day Jussie Smollett. It also diminished the impact of...
Sky is the limit at Western Michigan for former Shady Side football standout Skyy Moore
Former Shady Side Academy athlete Skyy Moore has a knack for excelling on the football field, no matter the position. Just this past season, during his freshman year at Western Michigan, the former Indians quarterback/defensive back switched to wide receiver, a position he had never played before. In 13 games,...
Tim Dahlberg: Is rush to play sports this year really worth it?Video
Who knew a tennis ball could be so dangerous? Certainly not Novak Djokovic, whose incredibly misguided decision to flout the coronavirus pandemic with a series of tennis exhibitions ended with the world’s best tennis player, his wife and who knows how many others infected. He’s now sorry, of course, but...
No federal charges in NASCAR noose incident; authorities say noose was in garage since last yearVideo
The noose found hanging in Bubba Wallace’s garage stall at Talladega Superspeedway had been there since at least last October, federal authorities said Tuesday in announcing there will be no charges filed in an incident that rocked NASCAR and its only fulltime Black driver. U.S. Attorney Jay Town and FBI...
On the Fringe: DeChambeau doing it his wayVideo
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. — It took Webb Simpson winning at Harbour Town to stop getting questions about Bryson DeChambeau. Not that he minded. They played together the opening two rounds of the RBC Heritage, and Simpson was not oblivious to the main topic of conversation the last two weeks...
Police investigating ‘White Lives Matter’ banner flown over soccer game
British police on Tuesday investigated the circumstances behind a plane pulling a “White Lives Matter Burnley” banner over a Premier League soccer match, an incident which drew condemnation from players, politicians and anti-discrimination leaders. The aircraft came into view moments after players and coaches from Manchester City and Burnley took...
Novak Djokovic tests positive for coronavirus
BELGRADE, Serbia — Novak Djokovic tested positive for the coronavirus Tuesday after taking part in a tennis exhibition series he organized in Serbia and Croatia. The top-ranked Serb is the fourth player to test positive for the virus after first playing in Belgrade and then again last weekend in Zadar,...
Ryan Blaney wins at Talladega after show of support for Bubba WallaceVideo
TALLADEGA, Ala. — Ryan Blaney held onto the lead after a restart with two laps to go Monday, earning his second straight win at Talladega Superspeedway on a day that began with NASCAR drivers throwing their support behind Bubba Wallace. Blaney nipped Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the finish line for...
High schools across the nation push ahead for fall football amid pandemicVideo
AUSTIN, Texas — High schools across the country are trying to figure out how and when students might return to classrooms this fall. Many are also making sure their star quarterbacks and other athletes will be in shape when they do. While states have been easing the economic and social...
Indiana mourns death of 4-time soccer All-American Ken SnowVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Ken Snow, a two-time national men’s soccer player of the year, died Sunday, three days before his birthday. He was 50. Steve Franklin, director of education at Indiana Soccer, made the announcement Monday on Facebook. The Indiana athletic department said it confirmed the death through a family member....
Top field, no fans for this year’s Travelers ChampionshipVideo
CROMWELL, Conn. — The tournament director for this week’s Travelers Championship had an idea. How about filling the natural amphitheater around the 18th green at TPC River Highlands with giant video boards showing fans watching the event and cheering from home? “We started there. We wanted a Zoom wall with...
Wizards’ Davis Bertans sits out NBA restart to seasonVideo
WASHINGTON — Washington Wizards forward Davis Bertans will skip the Disney-based resumption of the NBA season, making him the first known example of a healthy, eligible player sitting out. Bertans can become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and is expected to command a big contract as one of the...
Greg Schiano: 2 Rutgers football players have coronavirusVideo
A week after the football team returned to campus, Rutgers is reporting cases of coronavirus with some players. Coach Greg Schiano disclosed Monday during a conference call with the media two players has tested positive for virus. It was his first availability since the team was allowed to return for...
